It was early evening when Officer Julian Pacheco stepped on the gas of his police cruiser and flicked on the police siren. Just seconds before, dispatch at the Los Banos Police Department radioed for a medical call.
Pacheco stopped the car at a beige residence. Three officers and emergency personnel dashed inside to join him, oxygen equipment in hand. A child was unresponsive and taken to the hospital. The medical status is unknown.
Pacheco stopped the car at a beige residence. Three officers and emergency personnel dashed inside to join him, oxygen equipment in hand. A child was unresponsive and taken to the hospital. The medical status is unknown.
An hour later, Pacheco slid back into the car. His breath was even. Soon, he started driving to the next call for service. After all, there were more people who might need his help.
The demands of each shift varies for Merced County’s police officers, who are tasked with responding to a gamut of calls on an hourly basis. Officers never fully know what incidents will happen during a shift. In between calls, they patrol their community for safety enforcement.
The FOCUS did ride-alongs with Atwater Police Department, Gustine Police Department and Los Bano Police Department in May to learn what a daily shift entails.
Officers told us that keeping the community safe anchors their work and grounds them during difficult calls.
How do officers respond to calls for service?
An officer’s patrol car is equipped with all the tools they need to prioritize and respond to incidents.
A computer monitor facing the driver’s seat displays each service request. These calls are uploaded from the agency’s dispatch center.
An adjacent radio in the vehicle buzzes with incident numbers and each call’s priority level. It can be anything from a domestic dispute to a fire. Officers focus on calls with higher precedence, such as the report of an unresponsive child in Los Banos.
Officers are assigned an area of their city to respond to calls. It’s a good rule of thumb to have at least two officers respond, especially for a larger incident, officers told The FOCUS.
In between calls or after their shift, officers write up reports. These accounts include interviews from witnesses, alleged suspects or victims.
After a heart-wrenching call – such as the one each officer sped to earlier that night – Los Banos police officers meet with the chief to debrief.
Pacheco said this support feels like a family. He’s been at Los Banos Police Department for the past two years. Before that, he worked at the Salinas Police Department.
“I’m not here to just collect a paycheck,” Pacheco said. “I’m here to make sure my kids grow up in a safe environment, and their friends also grow up in a safe environment, where they can walk, they can go hang out without being impaired, that nothing’s gonna happen to them.”
The job is fast-paced, and at times officers encounter people on their worst day, Pacheco said. It’s critical to respond to each call with their best foot forward, no matter what, he said.
“You have more pressure during these nighttime calls because, sometimes, it is life and death,” Pacheco said. “You learn how to kind of calm yourself.”
Gaining experience helps an officer adjust to difficult calls.
“It’s definitely hard,” Pacheco said. “The more you’re on this job, I think the better you handle it during situations.”
What happens when it’s not busy?
Officers don’t always have a call to respond to, especially in smaller cities such as Gustine.
Gregory Gilstrap oversees patrol at Gustine Police Department. He also patrols daily in the mile-wide town.
On an afternoon in May, he cracked the window as the breeze filtered through the car. Radio music hummed in the background. During this shift, he was the only officer on patrol.
In the incorporated small city of 2,000 people, everybody knows everybody, Gilstrap said. At least five people waved to Gilstrap, as his Ford Explorer zigzagged the streets of Gustine.
But this neighborly feeling doesn’t always translate to a clear understanding of what the police do.
“People have no idea, really, what we do or why we do something and so, what looks normal to us, someone else (might say), ‘Why would you do that?’” Gilstrap said.
The dispatch center at Livingston Police Department shares calls with Gustine.
Late Wednesday afternoons aren’t typically busy, Gilstrap says. Rarely, a call poured through his police radio in the hours that stretched by.
Traffic safety and crash prevention in Atwater
It’s a different pace 27 miles away where Sgt. Tyler Davis responds to calls in Atwater.
Davis supervises officers on patrol during his 12-hour shifts four days a week. There’s often many traffic-related calls he responds to.
Davis keeps an eye on license plates while he drives to each location – in case he needs to remember the digits later.
Atwater police officers conducted 513 traffic stops in the first three months of the year, according to a quarterly report. The department added a traffic position this year to dedicate more resources to traffic enforcement.
During his shift, Davis steered his car toward the intersection of East Juniper Avenue near Buhach Colony High School. This stretch of road saw three fatal crashes in recent years, he said. That number includes when a vehicle drove into two sisters in 2023, killing them on impact.
Davis held a speed radar gun in hand. He peered through two eye holes as cars drove by. The instrument beeped loudly as it spit out each vehicle’s speed. Davis will flag down any car that is going dangerously above the speed limit, he explained.
A kid slowed his scooter on the sidewalk next to the police car.
Davis grabbed his radio, smiling. “Do a trick.”
The boy slung his backpack to the concrete and turned around, before curving back toward Davis.
Davis serves the community that he’s known his entire life. In a public-facing job, he said, it’s important to keep a positive mindset and prioritize safety.
“The people that we work with, they’re what keep this job interesting and fun,” Davis said.
“If you come to work and you’re mad at the world or mad at something else, then you’re just gonna be miserable and end up taking it out of the citizens.”
